Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-30
would have to climb, or wha. the Difficult.

would have 90 climb, or what the difficult
ties, we could not say. We were not three
minutes deciding TO make the attempt,
and we prepared for II by leaving coats,
vests, hats and boots behind. We be-
gan the ascent about 100 feet back from
the mouth of tho rift. and do not believe
two panthcrs could have done better The
side Of tho mountain was thickly covered
with cedars, vines, and rocks, and pro-
gress was made almost entirely by creep
ing. Once we drew ourselves up "A cliH
full twenty feet high by o grapevine hang
ing down, and again wo made use OF n
tree TO seek higher elevation. We had
been going up for half an hour before we
bore OIL To the right in the direction OF the
rift. We then had 10 move far more eau
tiOusly, and presume 10 was full hour
from the time we left the valley before we
lay on our stOmachs 100 feet above the
camp fire and looked over. The men
were directly beneath us, seated close to-
gether, and were smoking as they counted
the money.
We had but one way To attack. Luckily
for us it was straight descent. | could
have dropped coin fair upon the hat Of
the man beneath me. We were out upon
"A rocky shelf, but there were loose stones
weighing about twenty-five pounds, tho
miner got one equally as large, and we
carefully crept back to the edge with
them. The fall of the smallest pebble
would startle the men below, and we
used as much caution as if our lives
would pay the forfeit After n bit we
were ready. The men had not moved.
For about n minute ] lost my nerve. IL
seemed n horrible thing TO do. Had |
been alone ] believe ! would have re-
Tented The miner seemed 10 read my
thoughts, and he put his mouth to my
ear and whispered;
Remember how they shot the ranch
man, and remember that they take our
every shilling"
We poised the stones on the edge Of the
cliff, and at a whispered "Now' from
him we dropped them. ! heard them
strike. and drew back. He peered over,
and after moment recovered his balance
and said:
"Now we can 90 down! Those chaps
will never rob another coach'
1t took Us longer To 20 down than TO
come up, but we made the descent in
safety, and walked around TO and up the
rift The fire had nearly died out We
replenishcd IL and then saw that both
men were dead. It was n horrible sight,
and one ! do not care 10 describe Our
rocks had fallen squarely down on their
heads and you can imagine the result.
There was dry, airy cave but few feet
away, and the gang had made the place
rendezvous for long time We rccov-
cred every dollar our coach had been
robbed of and more than as much again,
which had been taken from others. The
cave had n big supply Of firearms, blan-
kets and provisions, and in a mail bag
hanging on the wall were ten gold and
silver watches. We got altogether six
teen watches, five or six valuable pins
and firearms worth at lcast 5000 We
not only secured the wealth. but we made
an even divide and kept every dollar Of il.
An attempt was made IN Stockton 10 com
pei rs to 'diyvy' with several people who
had been robbed, but it was failure. As
the tourist was out Of ready cash we gave
him 5000, but we would not even sell the
lieutenant back his watch at any price.
1t was told all over the slope that our
haul amounted TO $2j, 600. If 1t did we
earned every dollar Of it, besides wiping
out bad gang and leaving the stage line
clear for the next six months.-Ncw
York sun.